alaska721

My daughter is currently in year 1 at Herne Hill School. The new head is absolutely fantastic. She has a lot of energy and gets really involved. She's not really new to the school. She was previously the head of Early Years as well as the deputy head. I remember my daughter's first sports day at the school when she was in the nursery. She was a bit overwhelmed and started crying and refused to participate. Mrs Telford picked her up and comforted her until she stopped crying.

I've got the Grohe Red hot water tap. I absolutely love it for the convenience of having hot water on demand when cooking and making tea for guests. Not having a kettle also means one less appliance cluttering up my kitchen surface. Unfortunately I'm not a tea drinker so cannot comment on the quality of a cuppa from a hot tap. It's got a safety catch and the water comes out smoothly (no spurting).

Next week my five year old daughter will be attending the "Stick Man" holiday drama club run by the Freedom Academy at the Trevor Bailey Sports Ground (near Dulwich College). They have a morning and afternoon session (my daughter is doing the morning sessions). You could give them a call to see if there are any spaces.

There was a very interesting and long thread regarding Build Team on this forum which contained numerous negative reviews but unfortunately it was removed a few weeks ago. The one positive review that appeared was posted from an IP address that belonged to Build Team (which the EDF admin spotted). I suspect too it had to be removed due to legal reasons and no doubt this thread will be deleted in time.

I used Martin's Builders and Decorators (020 8670 5771) for my side return extension and I would highly recommend them. I found them to be reliable, hard working and a friendly team. They are top of my list now for any future building or decorating work. PM me if you want any further information.

We took my daughter to Whippersnappers last years and I have to say we were really disappointed. We found it quite disorganised and a bit shabby. Last week we went the Harrods' Grotto and we loved it. It had that "magical" touch and only cost ?10.

Does anyone have the contact details for a burglar alarm engineer? My usual guy is away. On the weekend I had the whole system disabled (the internal box and keypad removed) as we have to shift a few things around in the hallway. Last night the external box on the front of the house started emitting an alarm. Not as loud as the usual burglar alarm but a low-level constant sound. It was loud enough to wake us (and probably the neighbours) but you could only hear it from the front of house. The sound is still going on? Could this be the battery in the box running down?

Thank you for your response. I will speak to the consultant next time we're at King's and ask why it was something that had to be dealt with by the hospital rather than our local dentist. My concerns were the four hour wait at King's (meaning my daughter missed school and I had to call work and say I wouldn't be back) as well at the long period between the initial referral to the actual appointment (almost a year). I grew up outside London and I remember my dentist being able to offer gas, injections, x-rays, extraction etc. I don't recall ever having to go to a dental hospital so I wasn't sure if it was a London thing. I don't know whether it would be worth going private or finding an alternative dentist that can offer such treatments.

Does anyone have experience of having their children referred to King's College Dental Hospital by their dentists? Earlier this year my daughter's NHS dentist said she would be referred to King's as she had some discoloration on a molar. The appointment was yesterday and after four hours in the waiting room we were told she would need a routine filling. She has to go back to King's in four weeks time for the filling. The reason I'm asking is that I want to know if it is normal for children in the area to be referred to King's for such dental treatments? Do the local NHS dental practices not carry out these treatments?

hi Svgolan. In the end we went for "Slimline Aluminium". I'll send you a PM now why we chose that firm over Culmax, IQ and Fineline.

Hi Ben. I'm in week 9 of my build but I still have another 10 weeks to go! Unfortunately my project has been delayed somewhat by the structural glass roof that I'm having manufactured which has a long lead time. This has had a knock-on effect of delaying the kitchen I'm shipping over from Germany. Initially I was expecting the whole thing to last 16 weeks but now it's 19 weeks. I'll send you a PM with the details of my builder and why we chose him as well as the details of the quotes I received. As people have mentioned above, the dust gets everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE! It's just relentless and you find you have to vacuum every day. I've already had one vacuum cleaner break down on me. The temporary kitchen has been invaluable and if we didn't have it I think I would be tearing my hair out by now. Being able to eat normal healthy meals and wash/dry our clothes in our washer dryer has eased the pain. I can't wait for it to be over. Counting down ... ! Will PM you now.

I called out the "the mobile paint repair company" this week so sort out a scuff on my car bumper which I discovered when I got back from my holiday (a great big white scuff against a dark grey car!). I spoke to a friendly guy called Roy. The car looks great and you wouldn't know that it had been scuffed.

I'm currently having my side return extended and I've gone down the route of finding an architect first, then the structural engineer and then tendering out the contract to several builders and eventually picking the builder that I wanted to work on my project. I have no experience of Build Team but a good friend of mine who is an architect told me to avoid these one-stop shops. They offer little creativity and churn out bog-standard designs. I am wary of Build Team's online calculator. When I entered in my criteria it came up with an a cost of approx ?45k (including glass roof, removing chimney breast and under floor heating). The four quotes I received from local builders when I tendered out my contract all ranged between ?80k-85k including VAT. All four quotes excluded the cost of the kitchen and glazing so I am spending in excess of ?100k on my extension. I believe Build Team's calculator is unrealistic and underestimates the true cost.

Are you looking for pre-schools for private or state schools?

We're now in week four of the building works and we've had walls knocked down and steel beams going in. The temporary kitchen is a bonus. I honestly thought we'd be living on microwave meals but so far we've been able to eat normal meals. We even had a roast last Sunday! The amount of dust is shocking (and I know it's going to get worse). Even with our temporary door at the bottom of the stairs and closed doors throughout the house I have to vacuum constantly. The dust gets EVERYWHERE! Fortunately I've got two vacuum cleaners (one Dyson cordless and one normal one) and I keep one upstairs and one downstairs.

dulwichquine - you can get dust sheets from B&Q. We've got the plastic ones that come in rolls (like bin liners) and you cut to size. My husband covers everything in the living room before the builders arrive. Our builders have set up a temporary plastic door at the bottom of our stairs to keep dust away from the upper floors. I'll take a photo tonight and send to you.

Thanks for all the useful advice. The builders started last week while we were on holiday and we returned on Saturday to find our kitchen, WC and garden decking all ripped out, excavations in the garden, a full skip and a temporary kitchen built in our front room (see photo attached). The builders have laid a protective layer on our floors, walls and staircase. They've even built a temporary door at the bottom of the staircase which appears to have reduced the amount of dust travelling upstairs.

I've got a four year daughter (who is looking forward to the new kitchen because she believes it's a new play area for her!). I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like with more kids or infants. The builder has said he will build a temporary kitchen for us and that will include plumbing in my washer dryer. I know it's going to worth the pain.

We're about to embark on building work on our Victorian terrace (extending into our side return). Does anyone have any tips and advice on how to survive the next 12-16 weeks? We are going to be living in the property the entire time as we can't afford to rent elsewhere whilst paying our mortgage. There is no side access so the builders and material will be coming through the front door and through the house.

I gave birth to my daughter in 2011 at King's and at the time I was living in the Lambeth part of Camberwell. We registered her birth at the Southwark Registry office in Camberwell and all was fine.

I get two newsletters per week via email. One is a more general school-wide letter and the other is more class specific. The general school-wide one contains news regarding events, school trips, teacher news, school plays and warnings of any chicken pox/head lice outbreaks. The class specific one contains details of what the children have been learning in class that week and it's usually divided into sections including literacy, maths, social development and physical activities. I find the class specific one particularly useful as it is very detailed and lists everything they have done in class that week. I work full-time and never get to speak to my daughter's teacher/teaching assistants to find out what she does in class. If I ask my daughter what she has done in school that day I get the same response every time "I don't know"!

I will be ordering a new kitchen from Dulwich Design Kitchens in the next couple of months. I found them very helpful and knowledgeable and loved the preliminary design. If you decide to visit, make sure you book an appointment especially if you are going on a weekend.

Thanks for all the responses. The one we are looking at is ?1,500! Despite the hefty price tag I think we are going to get the Quooker tap.

We are shortly about to get a new kitchen and we're contemplating whether to get a Quooker hot tap. They are very expensive but I like the idea of hot water on demand as well as getting rid of the kettle (which I consider clutter!). Does anyone have one in their kitchen? Do you love it? Or do you regret having one fitted?

Another recommendation for Daniel (Art of Decorating). I had the masonry around my windows painted (ground and first floor windows). The standard of work and attention to detail was exactly what I was looking for. I initially telephoned Daniel to make enquiries and a couple of hours later he came to visit so he could give an accurate quote. He's very communicative and a pleasure to deal. I'll definitely use him again.